1/16/2023 - connorpksmith Likes this wine:

Pnp over 2 hours at 2 Amy's Pizzeria. This is still going strong! Wish we gave it a short decant before enjoying. This kept getting better and better as the night went on. The last sip was the best. Still one of the best Barolos from the '16 vintage IMO.

11/26/2022 - Smooth Jazz wrote:

Muted nose, crushed stone and green olive on the palate which still feels tight even after several hours of decanting, little to any perceptible fruit, drying tannins, no mid palate and short finish - may well have an upside to the score but it’s pretty joyless at present - revisit after another decade at least

6/18/2022 - NostraBacchus wrote:

Unfurtunately oxidized bottle. Already the color gave away that there was something wrong.

6/29/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

On the nose, I found black cherry and red raspberry fruit, licorice, violets, menthol, fresh herbs, and a hint of fresh citrus. On the palate, the wine opened with juicy dark red fruit, with a good amount of power but lip puckering acidity contributing freshness and a sense of lightness. As it built towards the finish, finely textured but youthful tannin emerged, and the flavor profile transitioned into a bit of a darker fruit expression, ending on black fruit, spices, and salty minerality.

It's a brilliant wine. Compared to the '16 which I tasted yesterday, the fruit expression is a bit lighter, with some red fruit in the '14 mixing with the black cherry I found in both wines. The acidity level appears to be higher in the '14, or at least it sticks out more from the rest of the wine, and thus one could say it lacks a bit of the balance of the '16, where every aspect seems to be perfectly proportioned. It's a bit leaner on the palate as well, but not nearly to the degree of most '14 Barolo. In both wines there is a clear commonality in the vineyard characteristics but each also reflects the vintage characteristics.

9/13/2022 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The ‘06 Grasso is an attractive wine, although it seems a bit muddled in comparison to the wines being made at Grasso since 2008. On the nose, I found dark red cherry fruit, menthol, sweet spices, licorice, and orange peel. On the palate, I found dark red cherry with a hint of dark chocolate, sweet spices, and licorice, with the finish highlighting the chocolate, spice, and herbal notes more so than the fruit. The wine had medium acidity with slightly grainy tannins, lacking some of the finesse the Grasso wines now show. The wine is a bit too dark and lacking freshness to be a truly great wine in my opinion; it’s somewhat monolithic.

6/4/2022 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote:

Galloni…facepalm. This might have potential in 20 plus years. Right now it’s bitter and super tannic. Did a long decant and then back into the bottle overnight. No movement on it. Likely will always be low 90’s for me.

7/13/2022 - Diane (LI) wrote:

It starts out vegetal, but with air and a nice chill, citrus comes through. Worked nicely as a starter at a wine dinner.

6/27/2022 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine:

This was (unfortunately :-) tasted next to the epic 2008. Jumps right out of the glass, with explosive notes of super perfumed red cherries, ripe red berries in general, rose petals, some violets also just a touch of tar and tobacco leaf. It‘s medium-full bodied, but lacks the persistence of the 2008, has high acidity and medium-high tannin that is there but seems a touch rougher than 2008, this is splitting hair though. Good finish.
This would probably be an excellent wine for any occasion but it was just suffering a little bit from being served next to the incredible 2008. Still a very good Brunate that is just short of being truly great. It makes up for it with being super seductive and is welcoming you with open arms.

4/11/2022 - Michael Zoppo wrote:

Initially very shut down in the glass, my first reaction was one of disappointment. With air, some of the pretty Giacosa nose came out, but this didn't seem to show quite correct to me. There was some of the "fruitcake" that I look for in these wines, but overall the impression was a little dark, a little somber. I don't criticize a red label without some reluctance.

3/8/2022 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '18 Nervi is an incredibly beautiful young wine. Today, it shows a lot of promise and is fun to drink, but the best days seem to be well in the future. There is plenty of structure and concentration here for this to age for decades.

On the nose, I found very cool-toned aromatics with sweet, dark red raspberry fruit, fresh roses, orange peel, mint / cool herbs, and a bit of licorice. On the palate, the wine was very finessed in terms of tannins, elegant, yet also concentrated, in the way great Nebbiolo can be. I found a very sweet, somewhat exotic expression with very sweet pure red fruit, roses, and plenty of citrus peel and spices. The sweetness of the fruit and textural depth really stood out.

2/8/2022 - acyso wrote:

I'm not that bullish on this wine. It's good, but it's not at the level that the 2013 and 2015 (or even the 2016). A lovely candied-cherry-driven nose (that's not over the top), with a clear confected sweetness. A little rose underneath all that fruit. The palate is a clear continuation of the nose, but strikes me as distinctly candied. Mostly cherries as far as the fruit profile goes, and a bit of aldehydes put this soundly in the treble register. Somewhat lacking in acidity, this doesn't come across as very complex right now. I'd hope that this will develop complexity with time, as it certainly doesn't feel that way today.

12/19/2021 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '89 Rionda is a fantastic wine and still showed youthful today, with vibrant color and plenty of energy. On the nose, I found dark red to black cherry fruit, earth / black truffle, menthol, and balsamic spices. On the palate, the wine was richly textured with above average acidity, with some fine grained tannin remaining at the back end. The wine showed a beautiful inner sweetness, with black cherry fruit, earth, and balsamic spices, ending with sweet, hard-candy like dark fruit, balsamic, and roast meat flavors on the long finish.

12/9/2021 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The 2010 Ravera is a very good wine in the making. Today, it is enjoyable but seems to be somewhere between youthful exuberance and maturity, so I think it is best left alone for another 5-10 years, and it will likely develop positively for longer than that. At least in 2010, the Vajra Ravera is a more savory, 'masculine' Barolo than the very elegant and perfumed Bricco delle Viole.

On the nose, I found chalky red cherry fruit, dried rose petals, minerality, earth, and herbal tones of menthol and sage. On the palate, I found dried roses, earth, red cherry fruit, and fresh herbal tones of sage and mint, with a burst of chalk, minerals, and dried roses on the long finish. The wine is medium to full bodied in texture for a Nebbiolo with above average acidity and significant tannin, although the tannins are fine grained. Today, the wine is quite 'masculine' and structured on the palate, lacking the sweetness I would hope emerges as it matures. While there is a solid core of red cherry fruit here, the most dominant notes are red roses, earth, chalk, and savory herbs. The more recent vintages of Vajra Ravera appear to be a bit more fruit-forward.

~93 today for me, but likely with a few points of upside.

6/23/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

On the nose, the wine is deep and cool in tone, and nicely expressive with red cherry and plum fruit, tar, roses, iron, and spices. There is a rare level of complexity to the nose at such an early stage, immediately upon PnP. On the palate, it is rich and concentrated yet beautifully refined, with little perception of tannin, with waves of sweet strawberry and red cherry fruit, complemented towards the finish with minerals and spices. The '12 Conterno Francia may be the wine of the vintage based on what I've tasted to-date - it's a complex, powerful, refined wine that is surprisingly expressive at this stage yet seems to have the depth and concentration to age well.

6/4/2021 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The ‘16 Asili is a captivating wine. It is the most refined of the ‘16 Riservas I have tasted. It opens with an intoxicating perfume of sweet red cherry fruit, red roses, exotic spices, blood orange fruit adding an upper register, and a bit of fresh herbs contributing freshness. On the palate, it is extremely concentrated as I’ve found all of the ‘16 Riservas to be, but the Asili is complete and refined in a way the others aren’t at this stage. As with the aromatics, the palate mostly features beautifully sweet and fresh red fruit, rose, and spice tones. The acidity is high and the tannins are strong, but I found them surprisingly finely textured and integrated. The Asili is already beautiful and it seems destined to be an outstanding bottle at maturity.

7/6/2021 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '16 Burlotto normale is a very enjoyable wine, offering some of the Burlotto flavor signatures in a much more accessible, simpler wine that is easy to drink already.

On the nose, I found rose petals, a hint of olive tapenade, rich, jammy red raspberry fruit, and mint. On the palate, I found plenty of ripe red raspberry fruit and a hint of savory olives and herbs, with some notes of licorice also lingering on the finish. The wine has good energy with medium+ acidity. The tannins are quite present at this stage, but fine-grained enough to make the wine quite drinkable; however, the normale is not as elegant and refined texturally as the Monvigliero in '16, and the perception of tannin is higher here.

The '16 normale is an excellent wine to drink now and over the medium-term as a simple, easy-drinking Barolo with some unique flavor signatures. At the going U.S. rate, however, there are many significantly better wines to be had.

6/10/2021 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '16 Rupestris is a dense, classic Barolo that is fairly closed today and in need of cellaring. On the nose, I found an intense aroma of dried red roses, followed in intensity by cool menthol, tar, then sweet red raspberry and cherry fruit. On the palate, the wine showed good textural depth, sweetness, and finesse in the tannin, along with plenty of energy from sharp acidity, but didn't show much in terms of flavor complexity. I found largely pure red raspberry and cherry fruit with a good sweetness, with some fresh herbs and roses. The tannins are finely textured but very intense and will need a lot of time to soften. What really sticks out at this point on the palate is the density, the intense tannins, and the intense acidity.

I largely tasted through the '16s about a year ago and haven't tasted many since, so it's not directly apples to apples, but the '16 Rupestris is one of the more closed off and hard to read wines of the vintage that I've tasted. There is no doubting the intensity and energy of the wine. I'm sure the ultimate potential level of the wine is high, but it's hard to peg where this sits in the vintage pecking order at this stage. Certainly, I wouldn't recommend opening a bottle now for enjoyment.

1/13/2021 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '18 Caldwell seems to be a gorgeous Cabernet in the making, but I found the wine to be somewhat closed off and hard to get a read on today (a bit surprising to me, mostly because of Galloni's review, which suggested it was a bit more approachable).

On day one, I found the wine to be quite closed off and uninteresting. I put it in the fridge overnight and retasted today, at which point the wine had opened up nicely, although it seemed to close down again later. The aromatics are rich but also fresh, with sweet dark red raspberry fruit, dark minerals, mint, and fresh roses. On the palate, I found a similar combination of richness and freshness. The texture was silky with refined tannins, with a creamy / full mouthfeel, while the wine was livened by brilliant acidity puckering the mouth towards the back end. I found dark red raspberry fruit again, alongside spices, vanilla, mint, and a finish emphasizing the spice, vanilla, and red floral aspects of the wine. It is clearly a very good wine in the making, showing a mix of Napa richness with sharp acidity providing freshness/balance.

12/28/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The ‘13 Monprivato is one of the worst young Barolo I have tasted, price aside. Simply put, the ‘13 has no purpose - it lacks the vibrancy of a good Langhe Nebbiolo or the depth of a good Barolo. The fruit is diluted and muted, the texture is very light bodied and yet still shows some harsh drying tannin. The wine got worse with air and fell apart in the glass, suggesting it’s unlikely to improve with air. No sign of any flaw in the bottle.

On the nose, I found slightly muted aromatics of dried light strawberry fruit, some VA, dried flowers and tobacco. On the palate, it was light and diluted yet showed a normal amount of youthful Nebbiolo tannin, which stuck out more given the lack of any depth in the flavor profile.

The ‘13 was a major disappointment compared to the ‘15 which I tasted a few months ago, and was a clear success for that weaker vintage.

10/9/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '16 BdV is an insanely beautiful wine. The expressive, sweet aromatics make a strong first impression. On the nose, I found sweet, almost candied red cherry and purple-toned fruits, intense red floral aromas, licorice, menthol, and sweet spices, all woven together beautifully. Everything was in balance, and cool in tone, but explosive and sweet in a way few wines are especially at this age. On the palate, the wine is similarly explosive and concentrated, but with incredible finesse. I sense there is a lot of tannic heft, but it's buried under the fruit. There is a wave of dark red fruit, lavender, licorice, menthol, and spices, with a striking inner sweetness to the fruit. The finish is long, with red fruit and spices. It's concentrated yet light on its feet.

As an aside on tannins - it's remarkable how much progress appears to have been made at Vajra and other wineries in the past decade. I tasted the '05 BdV last night and the '07 BdV a few weeks ago. The '05 has fine-grained tannins but they are very noticeable, and I found the '07 to remain very tannic - the '16 BdV, at four years of age, is much more refined and smooth on the palate than either of those two vintages. The vintage plays a role here - the '08 is more finessed than '05 or '07 for example - but there's clearly been an upgrade in tannin management in my view.

Anyway, the '16 BdV is remarkable. It's one of the top few wines I've tasted from the vintage. Scored a 96, but closer to the 2016 Barolos I've rated a 97 (i.e. Bartolo, Burlotto Monvigliero) than most I've given a 96 to (i.e. Elio Grasso, Sandrone Le Vigne) in my view - if only there were more points in the scale.

12/13/2020 - WineGuyX wrote:

Stinky nose of stewed fruits and soy sauce. Medium-bodied and tannic. These wines are an enigma. They age beautifully and gracefully then suddenly, seemingly overnight, fall apart.

12/11/2020 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine:

100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Mount Veeder. Wow, this is really good, the sheer class and sophistication is really amazing. Deep dark red berries, black cherries, notes of new leather, some tobacco, graphite, a touch of scorched minerality, some espresso roast. It's medium-full bodied, but seems lighter on its feet, while at the same time has incredible mid-palate persistence. There is high tannin that is excellent quality and high acidity providing tons of freshness and brightens up the overall appearance. Long finish with excellent complexion building up. There is an almost creamy mouthfeel to it which is really intriguing, as other people have commented. This has depth without weight, something only the best wines in the world achieve. Wow.
This is built for the long term...

9/5/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The 2010 Monfortino is a Barolo of heroic proportions in every way. Despite its youth, the nose is intensely perfumed. The aromatics are cool in tone and suggest great depth and power, emphasizing savory, cool tones more so than fruit - not that it lacks in fruit. I found sweet red cherries, dried roses, tobacco, iron, and tar, all woven together in a very cohesive package. On the palate, the wine is simultaneously massive and yet incredibly finessed. A mass of dark red cherry fruit, tobacco, tar, iron, fresh herbs, and inner floral tones sweep across the palate, and there is almost a sense of thickness due to the sheer concentration. But then there is almost no perception of tannins at all, and the red fruit shows a beautiful sweetness. It's all effortless.

The 2010 Monfortino seems destined to be a perfect Barolo. It's massive, savory and cool in tone, and yet drinks with an ease that's hard to believe, with incredibly finessed tannins. The flavor profile is textbook Nebbiolo, just with everything dialed up a few notches.

I also tasted the '10 Francia recently. In comparison, the '10 Monfortino is both denser but also more finessed, and I also found the '10 Monfortino more open aromatically than the Francia. The Monfortino also showed more depth including savory tones the Francia did not. While there's clearly some similarities in the core flavor profile, I think the Monfortino is at least several notches superior in 2010.

9/20/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '07 Bartolo comes across as a dark, exotic, hedonistic wine from the first whiff. On the nose, I found black cherry and plum fruit, licorice, sweet baking spices, a hint of dark chocolate, balsamic, and earth. The palate remains largely primary, with dark cherry and plum fruit and sweet spices, but stands out primarily for the lush texture and richness. The fruit is dense and glides across the palate like velvet. There is minimal tannin, with a small amount of slightly grainy tannin appearing on the finish, which is long with plenty of spicy, dark fruit. I didn't find the '07 Bartolo to be in any way actually sweet on the palate, as some reviews indicated, but it does show a dark, rich, hedonistic expression of Nebbiolo, certainly very different than most vintages of Bartolo Mascarello. It's enjoyable today, but should improve a bit as the final bit of tannin fully integrates and some more tertiary complexity opens up. It is a very good vintage of Bartolo, standing out for its richness, even if it lacks the complexity of the surrounding '06 and '08 vintages.

11/13/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The 2010 Vajra BdV remains spectacular. The nose was somewhat darker than either the '13 or '16 currently are, with perfectly sweet dark red cherry and purple fruit tones, roses, licorice, cedar, and tobacco. On the palate, the wine was dense and richly textured, although not showing its cards much at this stage, with a core of dense, sweet red to purplish fruit, red floral tones, and adding a bit of tar and saline minerality towards the long finish. In addition to the richness and density of the wine, it showed a medium+ level of acidity and great finesse to the tannins, which are nearly integrated already. It's a spectacular wine, showing the inner sweetness and elegance I find consistent in the best vintages of Vajra's BdV, with all the explosive power of the 2010 Barolo vintage. It's currently a bit reticent, and may in fact need more time than either the 2013 or 2016 to show at peak. Whenever that does come, this will be a special wine.

10/25/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The ‘16 Brunate is an enjoyable wine, but seems to fall far short of the heights Rinaldi achieved in 2010 or 2013. On the nose, I found tobacco, dried herbs, lavender, licorice, and dark red to black fruit. On the palate, the primary flavor profile was tobacco and leather, alongside dark red fruit and spices. The wine was medium to light bodied with classicly austere but fine grained tannins and a good level of acidity. The wine lacks the depth, both in terms of the fruit profile and texture, that the 2013 & 2010 vintages showed.

10/15/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '13 BdV continues to be a gorgeous wine, even if it's showing only a fraction of its potential today. On the nose, I found dark red cherry fruit, plum, violets, lavender, exotic spices, and minerality. The nose is cool in tone and the profile of the fruit suggests an almost hard-candy like sweetness, On the palate, the wine was less giving at this stage, but showed a beautiful inner sweetness and great finesse in the tannins, with a texture packing a high concentration of fruit into a mid-weight, elegant package. A wave of sweet dark red fruit and violet tones flowed across the palate, culminating in a finish that was long with exotic spices & saline minerality.

While I found the '13 Vajra BdV is more shut down than it was a year ago or on release, the quality of the wine is clear. It's an incredibly beautiful wine, and not only one of the best QPRs of the 2013 vintage, but one of the top wines at any price.

I tasted the '16 BdV last week. I think it's hard to declare a winner, and they're both incredible wines. I think the '16 BdV is a bit more explosive and concentrated than the '13, while the '13 is a touch more finessed. They are both elegant wines in an absolute sense, and both possess striking levels of sweetness both in the aromatics and on the palate. Both have shown abnormal complexity at an early age - the '16 is a bit more expressive and obvious today, but so was the '13 at the same age.

10/3/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '16 Produttori is a stunning wine for the base Produttori, and makes me very excited to try the Riservas soon. On the nose, I found dark red cherry and plum fruit, blood orange, menthol, fresh herbs, and spices. On the palate, I found dark red and blueish fruit tones, menthol, and licorice. The texture was mid weight and the tannins were very nicely integrated, with medium+ acidity. It's a beautiful young wine, quite expressive despite its youth, and with a lot of depth for the base wine.

9/10/2019 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The 2013 Rabaja is an epic wine. It will require many years to be at its best, but the quality of the wine is already immediately evident on the palate. On opening, the Rabaja is very closed on the nose, and with time in the glass, only a muted expression of dark cherries and licorice emerges. Upon tasting, it is an entirely different story. An array of black fruit, licorice, balsamic, and tobacco sweep across the palate. The fruit is so rich so as to entirely cover the tannins, making the wine quite elegant and shockingly drinkable at this stage. Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to the 2013 Rabaja is that the wine I recalled when drinking it was the 2010 Rinaldi Brunate. I don’t think this quite rises to that level, but there is no doubt this is also a blockbuster in the making.

9/14/2020 - NostraBacchus wrote:

Medium ruby color, slightly lightening up towards the rim. High viscosity. First slightly muted, but opened up after about 2 hours. Notes of cedar wood, plum, some red and dark berries, new leather, cigar, also some spicy notes too (anise, fennel seeds). Everything still very primary. It‘s medium-full bodied, has medium+ acidity and medium-high tannin that is good quality. There is a touch of warmth/alcohol recognizable, not disturbing but muddling the aromatics a little bit. Good length. This is still a baby in terms of evolution... so patience might be required. I am still a little worried about the warmth and the relatively lowish acidity (for Cru Barolo at this early stage).
On day 2 it shows a little more in terms of aromatic, but still the alcohol is a little recognizable to my taste.
On day 3 it‘s opening up even more. Still this could use a touch more freshness to be truly great.

9/11/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The nose is cool and dark in tone, with dark red cherry & plum fruit, violets, roses, sweet baking spices, and licorice. On the palate, I found perfectly sweet and spicy dark red fruit, purple fruit tones and licorice emerging towards the finish. The wine is very concentrated, and yet the tannins and texture of the wine lean very much towards finesse, with a silky texture and very fine-grained tannin emerging only on the finish.

I wanted to check in on a '13 Bartolo after tasting the '16 last week. They're very different wines, with a completely different tone to the fruit, and the key commonality is the finessed texture/tannins, which seem to be consistent in all recent vintages of B. Mascarello. While the '16 Bartolo emphasized freshness and lightness, with red raspberry & blood orange fruit tones, fresh herbs - the '13 is a darker, perhaps more intriguing wine in my opinion. The '13 is a bit more powerful and concentrated. There's maybe some more energy and acidic drive to the '16, which may just be the age difference. Anyway, both will clearly be some of the top wines of their respective vintages, but it's fascinating how different they are.

9/9/2020 - NickA Likes this wine:

Gareth's Post-lockdown Piedmont (Noize): Nicely mature - slightly volatile, gamey nose, and lovely deep cherry cola-accented fruit on the palate. Bright acidity made it a great match for the rich food it accompanied. Elegant and enjoyable, but (unlike some of my dining companions) I wasn't excited by this - perhaps partly because my glass had a lot of sediment in it.

8/21/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The nose was a bit reticent at this stage, but with some coaxing I found black cherry fruit, grilled meats, graphite, and fresh herbs. On the palate, I found the wine more open, and it was explosive with black fruit, licorice, graphite, and minerality. There is a beautiful sweetness to the fruit on the palate and the texture is creamy, but still feels light-weight, not heavy. There is plenty of finesse to the tannins, which are fine in texture. The finish is long, with a striking combination of salty minerality and sweet dark fruit. It's a gorgeous young Cabernet, perfectly balanced to age and yet enjoyable now.

9/5/2020 - SARED Likes this wine:

93-94 today, 95+ in time. Has a very grippy tannin structure that begs 5+ years before cracking one open. Wish I had more.

9/2/2020 - SARED wrote:

This is an awfully pretty wine and a unicorn by another definition: a barolo with Chambolle sympathy. This is not an angry or austere barolo. You cannot even taste the 14.5% alcohol. That big nose of strawberries, fruit and flowers hits you immediately. The palate has a core of ripe strawberry and cherry essence. There is some earthiness. The fruit here is so soft! Softer than the recent renditions of Monvigliero that I can remember. The wine has intense flavor, but is very seamless and is so soft. I am not an expert, but it strikes me Fabio is taking barolo to new frontiers. I cannot imagine any other producer's Monvigliero cloning what Fabio has achieved here for some time.

8/31/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '16 Villero is gorgeous. The aromatics are captivating, with very pure, sweet red and purplish fruit, exotic spices, and violets, with some tobacco and tar as well. The aromatics are so well integrated, and suggest a very sweet, finessed, almost Burgundian wine, maybe more akin to a Burlotto cru than the average Barolo. On the palate, the wine mostly lives up to that suggestion, as the texture and tannins are very refined, particularly on entry and through the mid palate, with just a bit of tannin sticking out at the finish. Bright, crisp red fruit, lavender, exotic spices, and tobacco flow across the palate with lively acidity and medium body.

It's beautifully perfumed, complex, light on its feet and yet nicely concentrated and full of energy. What a wine! To me, this edges the Ca'Mia in 2016 - I haven't tasted the Rocche/Garblet Sue yet.

8/26/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

On the nose, I found aromatics that are both dark and lifted, with dark red to black fruit, smoke, fresh floral aromas, espresso, sweet spices, and mint. On the palate, the wine is lush and richly textured, with layers of stunningly sweet, dark red fruit. Transitioning into the finish, black fruit emerges, along with sweet spices and classic tar & floral flavors. The finish is long, dark and spicy, and a touch salty. The tannins are fine in quality and overwhelmed by the mass of concentrated fruit throughout most of the palate, but begin to emerge on the finish. Acidity is high.

The '16 Le Vigne is a beautiful young wine - it's aromatically a bit more closed than some of the '16s I've tried, but on the palate it's really thrilling, as the fruit is concentrated and perfectly sweet, and that pairs perfectly with the spices & minerality, while the sharp acidity brings a sense of energy.

8/20/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The '10 Francesco Rinaldi Brunate is a textbook Barolo from Brunate. On the nose, I found dark red to black cherry fruit, licorice, dark florals and sweet spices, and a hint of balsamic. On the palate, there is a wave of dark fruit, spices, and a touch of balsamic, and the texture is surprisingly elegant, with fine grained tannins. There is perfect balance and energy, with plenty of power and a long finish, present but fine tannins, and a high level of acidity. It's a very impressive wine, showing better than I would have expected in its youth - particularly in the tannins - but also well balanced to age well as it develops more tertiary nuance.

6/22/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The nose opened with aromas on the darker, spicier end of the spectrum, with black raspberry, spices, fresh herbs, tar, and candied orange peel. On the palate, the wine is concentrated and rich with a velvety, demi-glace texture. There is a wave of sweet dark red fruit ending in a finish of dark fruit, licorice, and spices, with firm but smooth tannins. It's an incredible wine, and so different than the 2014 I tasted recently, with much more richness in the texture and a bit of darker profile. I find this to be one of the better 2015s I've tasted, with all the richness in aroma and texture of a warm vintage but great balance.

6/1/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The nose is dark in profile but also very fresh and inviting, with primarily black cherry complemented by blue-toned fruit, baking spices, and a hint of licorice lifted up by cool aromas of menthol and a bit of fresh herbs. It is quite a unique but very pleasing combination of aromas for a young Barolo. On the palate, the wine shows significant density and power but also great finesse, with a creamy texture and fine-grained tannin, showing greater elegance and appearing more cohesive from start to finish in the early going than the rest of the 2016 Vietti lineup. The palate is a bit shut down in comparison to the nose in this showing, but reveals a kaleidoscope of fruit tones from blue to black as I found on the nose and also purple tones. Baking spices and floral notes round out the flavor profile along with a salty minerality that invites another taste.

The Rocche is my favorite of the Vietti lineup this year and is one of the more compelling young wines I've ever tasted. The nose is unique and has this X-factor, a level of exoticism that for me lifts it into the stratosphere. On the palate, it is perfectly in balance and powerful yet finessed, and it appears to have no defined beginning or end, as it glides across the tongue seamlessly.

5/25/2020 - Pancreatitis wrote:

Sadly my last bottle of this but easily the best bottle of Dunn I’ve ever had and certainly one of the best Cabernets ever tasted, now I see what the fuss is about, echoes of top Bordeaux.
Beautiful popped and poured and essentially unchanged 3 hours later, this is spritely in its youthfulness, cassis, dark and red fruits, harmonious secondary elements of beef stock and hoisin. Incredibly concentrated with youthful freshness. Tannins still relatively prominent. Breathtaking acidity. No signs of fading.
This is easily a 50 year wine, which makes me wonder why my previous bottles weren’t quite so impressive? Does this winery do no assemblage?

5/23/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The nose is beautiful with ripe black cherry, espresso, licorice, and smoke. On the palate, it has masses of rich and concentrated, ripe dark red and black fruit, and the absence of an extra layer on top of that from new oak aging adds a layer of finesse and a sense of transparency and energy. Acidity is medium+ adding a sense of freshness. There is plenty of tannin on the finish. Overall, especially on the palate, the wine is entirely primary and all about the texture and gobs of fruit at this point, having yet to acquire any secondary complexity. Given the combination of concentration level yet finesse and balance to the wine today, however, it seems likely to age very well and this score may prove conservative. I do think the winemaking may have improved, for my taste, even further in 2014 & 2015, which I thought both had a bit more complexity at this stage, but I'm sure this is going to be a great wine at maturity.

5/17/2020 - cct wrote:

Terrific perfume for Langhe Nebbiolo with cherry fruit, roses, red licorice, balsam, and tar in background. Midweighted, supple, and sappy on the palate with lovely purity of fruit. This has depth coupled with a sense of lightness and lift. This is not trying to be a baby Barolo, but rather is a perfumed, graceful Langhe nebbiolo with complexity without weight. It's floral and perfumed on the palate with an ease and sense of effortlessness to it. I don't; sense any heat to it, and that is impressive for a '17 nebbiolo. A harmonious, beautiful wine that has come together nicely since last year. 91.

5/7/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

The nose is expressive with sweet black cherries, roasted meat, licorice, and a hint of chocolate. On the palate, the wine is mostly primary with dark red fruit dominating, and is rich in texture, has sharp acidity, and a firm tannic structure. This is quite a nice young wine although to me the palate didn't live up to the nose at this stage of life - the palate is currently a bit simple and lacks a bit of textural elegance.

4/25/2020 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine:

Medium garnet/ruby color with a touch of bricking towards the rim. Needs a few minutes to open up in the glass. Super pretty, with brighter notes of sweet raspberries, strawberries, mint, some tobacco leaf, crushed rose petals, also some dark chocolate, leather and some almost saline minerality. With some more air, a whiff of truffle is sneaking in, too. It's medium-full bodied, with excellent mid-palate persistence, pretty high acidity and medium-high tannin that is great quality and silky. Long finish with great complexity. Another bottle of this stunning Barolo and from my perspective one of the best Barolos of the vintage. I have had it several times and every single bottle was stunning.

1/6/2020 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine:

Not what I ususally drink in terms of Riesling but this was deeply impessive. Pretty deep golden color, high viscosity. Explosive aromatics of candied lemon, sweet lemon curd, ripe apricot, but also some spices, some exotic fruit, white flowers, chamomile, honey and some steely minerality. It‘s full-bodied, creamy, rich and powerful, but doesn‘t feel heavy, has good medium+ acidity cutting through the richness and a touch of RS adding roundness. Excellent length.
A rich, oily, but super complex and layered Riesling of the highest level and full of character. Perfectly aged and ready to drink now.

11/4/2019 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine:

I haven‘t tasted this in about 4 years and was kind of slightly nervous, as I thought „can this wine possibly be as good as I remembered it“? The second my nose is in the glass, all doubts are gone. While this is undeniably still very young, slightly closed and austere, the sheer class, complexity and incredible silkiness are hard to put into words.
Notes of ripe red fruit, strawberries, red cherries, cranberries, crushed candied violets, tar, some anise seeds, black tea, a touch of truffle and plenty more. It‘s medium-full bodied, at the same time deep and structured, but also weightless, it has medium-high tannin that was building up over the course of the evening, but the tannin is of incredible quality, like pure silk. High acidity provides lift and tension. Superb length. An epic wine in the making... this only needs a few more years and will be one of the all-time-classic Barolos from my perspective. (98+)

9/10/2019 - Eric Guido wrote:

The nose was restrained at first, slowly opening to reveal tart black cherry, offset by savory meats, wild herbs, crushed stone minerality, and a hint of dried florals. On the palate, I found lean textures, driven by the wines acidity more than anything else, as notes of tart cherry, cooling mineral tones, and savory spices coated the senses. It finished fresh, with a sweet and sour mix of red fruits, spices and zesty acids lingering.

This was tasted over the course of two nights and didn't improve. I'm hoping it's just in a bad phase.

5/20/2019 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine:

This was a very enjoyable bottle of nature Barolo and shows how even humble Nebbiolo, properly stored, can age incredibly well. Green tea, light red fruits, and earth make up the very pretty nose. The wine bursts on the palate with smoky red cherry and a high level of acidity. Smoke, earth, and dried cherry linger on the finish. It could be due to a short period of decanting, and I would like to have them side by side, but I found the 1967 to be a bit lighter and less powerful than the 1961 or 1964, instead more of an elegant wine, but all of the Perin Wines have been very enjoyable and in phenomenal shape.

11/24/2018 - MC2 Wines wrote:

Here we go atruffling... (aka Piedmont... and Veneto); 11/16/2018-11/30/2018 (Alba, Guarene, Modena, Barolo, La Morra, Lake Garda .....): As this had been our first visit of the trip and because of the way 2014 worked out we hadn't actually tried the official barolos it seemed like a good idea to order this off of the Barolofriends wine list. I'm surprised at how high the community score is. To me this was ok, but nothing really stood out. It's got lots of dark fruits and some decent tannins and maybe a hint of the wood. Has not really integrated and comes across as a bit basic. Maybe with some more time?